iMac wont start - Help

[Sdahe]

Hello,

Today I turn on my iMac and it won't go pass the white screen and the apple logo.. when the status bar gets half way the computer shuts down by itself... what can I do?

 

[Weaselboy]

Is this the 2011 model you mentioned in previous posts? In those posts, it sound like you may have had the beginnings of a failing hard drive, and that may be what has happened here.

Try holding command-option-r at boot to get to Internet recovery, then see if Disk Utility can see the drive?

 

[Sdahe]

Is this the 2011 model you mentioned in previous posts? In those posts, it sound like you may have had the beginnings of a failing hard drive, and that may be what has happened here.

Try holding command-option-r at boot to get to Internet recovery, then see if Disk Utility can see the drive?

I did the command-option-r at boot to get to the Internet recovery and the disk utility can see the disk but it gives an error when I click first aid. At the end it says "First Aid process has failed. If possible back up the data on this volume. Press done to continue"... I have a backup but don't have yesterday's back up.. when I click to choose a startup disk it doesn't show any disk...

 

[Weaselboy]

I did the command-option-r at boot to get to the Internet recovery and the disk utility can see the disk but it gives an error when I click first aid. At the end it says "First Aid process has failed. If possible back up the data on this volume. Press done to continue"... I have a backup but don't have yesterday's back up.. when I click to choose a startup disk it doesn't show any disk...

Sounds like you need a new drive.

 

[Sdahe]

Sounds like you need a new drive.

Yes I think I do... maybe its a good idea to try the solid state drives...
[doublepost=1470858848][/doublepost]Can I access the drive from another computer to save some info?

 

[organicCPU]

I don't recommend using another computer through Target Disk Mode, because rescuing is better performed with an unmounted drive, hooked into the file system as read-only. Therefore use a disk connector after disassembling or use an external drive with a cloned or new system on it at the computer with the defective HDD and then start carving e.g. with ddrescue. It's a slow process and the more bad sectors the drive has, chances are fading away to get the data back. If you rely on the data consider a professional data rescue service.

 

[Weaselboy]

Can I access the drive from another computer to save some info?

You may be able to access some data if you put the old drive inside a USB enclosure and access it either from your computer once it is fixed, or from another Mac.

 

[Sdahe]

Well yes.. The HD was dead.. The tech placed a new SSD in there and now its running very nice and fast but.. now the fans are almost on all the time and very noisy. It sounds like they are running at full speed. Any way to fix this?... I loved when my iMac was quiet.

 

[Weaselboy]

Well yes.. The HD was dead.. The tech placed a new SSD in there and now its running very nice and fast but.. now the fans are almost on all the time and very noisy. It sounds like they are running at full speed. Any way to fix this?... I loved when my iMac was quiet.

The original drive has a temperature sensor on it that the replacement drive does not. So now without that sensor, your Mac thinks it is hot all the time and ramps up the fans. There is an adaptor cable here that will fix this issue, or you can use this software solution.

 

[Sdahe]

The original drive has a temperature sensor on it that the replacement drive does not. So now without that sensor, your Mac thinks it is hot all the time and ramps up the fans. There is an adaptor cable here that will fix this issue, or you can use this software solution.

The tech told me that when he opened the imac it didn't have the temp sensor... I'll download that app and see how it goes
[doublepost=1471029768][/doublepost]The app HDD Fan Control works like a charm... thanks

 

[organicCPU]

The tech told me that when he opened the imac it didn't have the temp sensor...

The tech couldn't find a HDD thermal sensor, because in 2011 iMacs it's "built-in" at the original Apple-HDD. Weaselboy's advice with the In-line Digital Thermal Sensor sounds to me to be the cleanest fix for the fan problem with replacement drives.
If you go the software route, I throw in these two: Donationware SSD Fan Control by Exirion and Freeware Macs Fan Control by CrystalIdea Software (Bootcamp version available, too).
Remember to use only one solution for controlling the fans at the same time!

 

[Sdahe]

The tech couldn't find a HDD thermal sensor, because in 2011 iMacs it's "built-in" at the original Apple-HDD. Weaselboy's advice with the In-line Digital Thermal Sensor sounds to me to be the cleanest fix for the fan problem with replacement drives.
If you go the software route, I throw in these two: Donationware SSD Fan Control by Exirion and Freeware Macs Fan Control by CrystalIdea Software (Bootcamp version available, too).
Remember to use only one solution for controlling the fans at the same time!

Thanks.. I went with HDD Fan Control.. it's working very good.